KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal deported a U.S. national and
banned him from climbing in the country for two years, after he
was found carrying a pro-Tibet banner on an expedition to the
Everest last week, an official said on Tuesday.

Nepal, which regards Tibet as part of China, has restricted
access to Mount Everest between May 1 and 10 and posted armed
soldiers to discourage protests against the Olympics torch when
it is taken to the summit by Chinese authorities next month.

The ascent of Everest is the highlight of a torch parade
that has been dogged by protests and counter-protests over
Tibet on its journey around all five inhabited continents to
raise the curtain on August's Beijing Games.

The Everest flame is separate from the globetrotting torch,
which passed through the streets of the North Korean capital,
Pyongyang, on Monday and is due to be paraded in Vietnam's Ho
Chi Minh City on Tuesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Nepal has also asked climbers not to carry any
non-essential items on expeditions to the 8,850 meter (29,035
feet) peak, the world's tallest.

But security forces frisking mountaineers at the Everest
base camp found a pro-Tibet banner in one of the bags of
William Brant Holland. It was not clear what the banner said.

Holland was deported on Monday. Tourism ministry spokesman
Prem Kumar Rai said he had also been banned from any climbing
in Nepal for two years.

Nepal has seen almost daily anti-China protests which
police initially broke up with beatings. But, of late, they
have been using little force in the face of criticism from
rights groups such as the Amnesty International.